Protests that began last month against planned tax hikes on gas have since morphed into a wider rebuke of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.
PARIS — The sound of sirens, angry chants and the crack of stun grenades echoed throughout the French capital Saturday as Parisians braced themselves for what many feared would be the most violent protests in weeks of forceful anti-government demonstrations that have swept the country.
Protests that began last month against planned tax hikes on gas have since morphed into a wider rebuke of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency and an expression of anger at his attempts to reform France’s long-ailing economy.
The effects of the protest were felt beyond the France’s borders as well, with protesters donning yellow jackets as a symbol of resistance in Belgium Saturday and Iraq earlier this week.
Almost eight in 10 people in France support the protests, according to a poll published last month.
The Champs-Elysées — the scene of last week’s clashes with police — was a rallying point for protesters, with many there calling for Macron to resign. Meanwhile, Paris’ glittering museums and galleries, including the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, did not open their doors to the usual troop of holiday season tourists. Soccer matches were also called off across the country.
‘Fed up’
Protesters who spoke to NBC News on the Champs-Elysées Saturday said they were not there for violence but to send Macron a message.
“He is amplifying a phenomenon that has existed for years now,” said Julian Alla, 31, a teacher from the rural Lozère region in the south of France. “That is that inequality is increasing, the rich are more and more rich and the poor are getting poorer.”
“We’re fed up and it makes me happy to see that everyone is here to say ‘enough is enough,'” said Alla, who had traveled more than 385 miles to Paris to protest.
Antoine Gauthier, 47, who had come to the protest with his 17-year-old son said that while he was not struggling financially, he wanted to show his solidarity with those who were.
“It’s fraternity,” he said. “We understand that we need taxes but we can’t be taxed to the point that we can’t live.”
Gauthier said that many people after paying rent and taxes find themselves with nothing. “It’s those people who we need to help,” he said.
John Schiltz, 36, a train-track worker from the Seine-et-Marne region to the east of Paris, said he would continue to protest until Macron resigned.
“He has to go,” he said. “He’s adding all these taxes without helping us at all — it’s just tax, tax, tax.”
Alexandre Bouchard who had travelled up from the rural Corrèze department in central France said he had come because he wanted to protest against increasing inequality.
“There is no longer a redistribution of wealth in France,” the electrician, 28, said.
As darkness fell across the French capital, the atmosphere on the streets became more unpredictable with some taking advantage of the chaos to loot shops. Some protesters continued to play cat and mouse with riot police.
Meanwhile in Washington, President Donald Trump, who enjoyed an erstwhile bromance with the French leader, tweeted in apparent support of the protests.